Malai Mirch Chutney & Ganganagar’s Obsession with Dairy

Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar region holds a special significance. It is known as ‘the food basket of Rajasthan’ or more informally, ‘Punjab in Rajasthan’. 

The ancient city of Kalibangan from the Indus Valley Civilization flourished in this region around 2600 to 1900 BCE. The mighty rivers, Saraswati and Drishadvati, flowed through the area making it home to tribes. However, in due course, the rivers started to dry up causing a natural calamity that wiped out the tribes and caused Sri Ganganagar to turn into a barren wasteland. 

Ganganagar shares its border with Pakistan, Punjab and Haryana on the three sides and has a unique cultural blend. The city was established in 1927 as part of a larger irrigation project known as the Ganga Canal Project, which aimed to divert water from the Sutlej River to irrigate the barren lands of Rajasthan. The establishment of the canal system transformed the landscape of Ganganagar from a desert region into a fertile agricultural belt. Farmer communities from neighbouring Punjab and Haryana started settling into this area. The region emerged as an important economic centre in Rajasthan, driven primarily by its thriving agriculture sector. It is the home to Rajput, Jat, Bishnoi, Baniyas and Punjabi communities who are all engaged in agriculture and allied activities. 

Since every household is engaged in agriculture in one way or another, cattle rearing is a common thing. Infact, it is almost difficult to find a dairy shop in the villages of Ganganagar and Hanumangarh as everyone has cattle in their homes. And the natives are big dairy consumers. 

Fresh milk is taken out early in the morning in big earthen pots, which are then placed on ‘Doodh ka Haara’, a pit created specially for slow cooking milk. Most old homes have two kitchens: outdoors with doodh ka haara, mathani for churning fresh butter and chulha for cooking; indoors with a modern gas stove. The milk starts cooking early in the morning on this pit and is cooked until late evening, lending a thick creamy texture and orangish-yellow colour. 

The diet here is incomplete without dairy. The day starts with a tall glass of rabdi churned with buttermilk. For lunch, Kadhi is served without question, almost like it is water. Thick fresh yoghurt is scooped out from an earthen bowl for a simple raita. Milk or tea is consumed often during the day. But what stands out is the usage of Milk and Malai in savoury dishes. While in other parts of Rajasthan, one will find a lot of buttermilk or ghee, here milk is directly use in curries and vegetables, adding a richness to the humble food. 

Malai Mirch ki Chutney

Recipe from Jaya Godhara, Hanumangarh, Rajasthan

Ingredients

• 5 - 6 big Green Chillies

• 10 Garlic Cloves

• 1/2 inch Ginger

• Salt as per taste

• 1 tbsp Ghee

• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds

• 2 tbsp fresh Milk Cream

Method

• Slit the green chillies and remove its seeds.

• Add green chillies, garlic cloves, ginger and salt in mortar and grind into a chunky paste.

• In a pan, add ghee and let it heat.

• Add cumin seeds to the pan and then, the chilli paste.

• Let it cook for 4 - 5 minutes until the ghee leaves the edges.

• Add the fresh milk cream and stir continuously. Let the milk come to a slow boil and then turn off the flame.